Never Sleep, Never Die
by Restless Goddess
Summary: AU So what might've happened if Final Destination 2 ended differently? What if Clear lived, but Eugene and Burke died? Kimberly and Clear are now the sole survivors of the foreseen grim accidents, and Death is coming to get his double meal.
1. Prologue

Never Sleep, Never Die 

A.N.: So what if the ending of _Final Destination 2 _had been different? What if Burke had died, and Death hadn't been stopped? What if now Kimberly AND Clear were just waiting for Death to finally claim them? We'll see… Clear/Kimberly pairing. It's not crazy or impossible, honest. And I seem to have a horrible problem with my prologues being so short. Sorry 'bout that.

Note that the title is taken from the Evanescence song "Whisper."

……………………

PROLOGUE (_Final Destination 2 _alternate ending)

"Bloody hands…" Kimberly said, pulling up that part of her vision. "The person driving had bloody hands!"

Clear was suddenly filled with a sense of pure dread, remembering one of the others marked for Death. "Eugene…" she said, starting to panic.

"No, wait!" Burke said, grabbing Clear's arm as she turned to find Eugene's hospital room. He too was filling with dread, but it was because of something else…

Sure enough, an explosion rocked the hospital hallway, sending Burke, Kim, and Clear to the floor. They all covered their heads, expecting the worst. When nothing else happened, the three companions slowly looked up…to find Eugene's blackened body lying before them.

Kim clasped her hand to her mouth and fell backwards. Despite the amount of gruesome deaths she'd witnessed in the space of a few days, each one horrified her to no end. Each time she stared at the motionless form of someone who had only moments before been full of life she felt as if a blast of cold had taken over her entire body, wrapping around her veins to the point where she felt feverish and physically sick. And they were people she had begun to know well, gotten acquainted with. And then they were just…gone. Snuffed out as if they were mere candles in a larger scheme.

Strong arms wrapped around Kimberly's shoulders, and she realized that it was Clear. Looking up into the blonde's blue-gray eyes, Kim saw that Clear felt the same way as she did – even if she was indeed partially hardened by it all. By this time, Burke had stood up and was shaking his head in dismay.

"No…no this is not possible! NO!" Clear and Kim both looked up at the officer – Kim shocked and Clear grim.

"It is entirely possible. You've just seen it for yourself."

"I've had enough of this!" Burke shouted. The seemingly calm officer had finally lost his cool. "I can't watch this anymore! I can't watch all these people die right before my eyes!"

"Burke, you're a cop!" Clear said incredulously, though she was starting to become a bit concerned. She remembered how Carter had started to lose it when he fully realized that he was a living dead man, and she wondered if that was happening to Burke now.

"_Fuck _that!" Burke screamed in frustration, ripping his gun out of its holster and flinging it to the side. "I'm gone! I can't stand this! I'm _gone_!"

As he had been saying this Burke had been backing up, but he finally turned and ran after his last exclamation. By this time Kim had fully comprehended how crazy Burke was suddenly becoming, and she and Clear scrambled from the floor to chase him. "No!" Kimberly shouted down the hall when she saw Burke pounding at the automatic door, apparently short-circuited by the explosion. "No! You can't leave! Wait!" But by the time Clear and Kim had reached the door, Burke had broken through and was climbing into the ambulance parked right outside. It was then that Kim noticed the blood on the door. Burke had pounded at it so hard that his knuckles bled.

"Bloody hands…" Kim said in horrific realization.

"The white van…" Clear whispered as they watched the ambulance speed away from the hospital…and towards the lake.

Though the two girls ran after the van, they knew that it was too late. They could only watch in sheer anguish as the left front tire of the ambulance hit a loose log that had fallen from the fence, sending the vehicle careening to the right and into the frigid water.

……………………

The doctors tried to revive him, but everyone knew it was too late. Burke was dead.

When the doctors finally gave up on bringing Burke back, Clear and Kimberly shared a grim look, though their eyes were filled with raw terror not shown in their expressions. Both girls knew that they were the last ones on two different lists, and that Death had a double meal that he could collect at any time. They knew what they had to do.

Less than a week later, Kimberly and Clear were at Stonybrook asylum, locked together in Clear's old room, pictures of their dead friends on the padded walls.


	2. Chapter One: I'm Right Behind You

CHAPTER ONE: "I'm right behind you…here I come."

A.N.: Note that the title of this chapter and the title of the next chapter (possibly the next two) come from the song "My Name Is Death," by Jude. It played in the credits of _Final Destination 2_. Also, this chapter is kinda sorta a little bit of a review on previous characters. Hey, it _is _their "anniversary," so to speak. Again, sorry about the shortness.

……………………

Kimberly slowly awoke to the same monotonous surroundings she'd woken up to for month after month. She was so used to the padded white walls and the morbid collage that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to wake up somewhere else. Somewhere normal. But though the room was the same as ever, the day was different. That day marked the two-year anniversary of the Flight 180 crash…and thus the one-year anniversary of the Route 23 pileup that Kimberly had seen before it even happened. And Kimberly was the only one left alive out of all the victims she'd supposedly "saved."

But had she really saved them? This question had gone through Kim's head at least a hundred times. Though she'd saved them from dying in the pileup, their real deaths had been even more horrific than the ones they would have originally suffered. Fiery explosions were replaced with hideous gore that could only be described as cruel twists of fate. The more Kim thought about it, the more she wondered if she should've just accepted the fact that she would die in the pileup.

Kimberly didn't want to die though. As bad as life was at the moment, she savored the fact that she could breathe, could move, could _live_. The thought of being cold and immobile made her shudder, and she couldn't bear to imagine it. Of course, whenever she thought of this, she always felt a stab of guilt as she remembered that the people she had come to know as friends were now as lifeless as she was scared to be. She felt ashamed to be so frightened when all the others – Rory, Kat, all of them – were dead, and indirectly because of her.

Whenever Kim voiced these thoughts to Clear, the hardened Flight 180 survivor always nodded in understanding, remembering how Alex had told her the same thing. She said to Kimberly what she had said to Alex. "You gave them a second chance to live," Clear had told Alex, and then Kim. "Death just didn't want you to do it. None of this is your fault at all."

Kimberly sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Though the memories always haunted her, the fact that it was the anniversary of the event made them even more painful. At Kimberly's movement, Clear looked up from where she was sitting; the two girls' eyes met in perfect understanding. They shared the same agony, and it was indeed doubled that day. Clear reached over and gently took the other girl's hand. Kimberly squeezed it gratefully, needing at least some form of comfort – even if only a little.

Clear and Kimberly both moved to sit side by side on Clear's bed, cross-legged with their chins in their hands, elbows supported by their knees. They simply sat like that for a few minutes, neither saying anything. It was Clear who finally spoke up first.

"Tod Waggner, accidentally strangled by the cord of the shower nozzle, survivor of Flight 180."

"Evan Lewis, impaled in the eye by a falling fire ladder, survivor of the Route 23 pileup," Kimberly continued.

"Terry Chaney, splattered by a bus, survivor of Flight 180," Clear added, continuing down the list of her dead friends.

"Tim, crushed by a sheet of glass, survivor of the Route 23 pileup," Kim said, moving down her own list, though they were also Clear's friends as well. But Kim was the one who had seen their deaths-to-be in her vision of the pileup.

"Val Lewton, throat cut, knifed in the chest, then her body burned, survivor of Flight 180."

"Nora, decapitated by a rising elevator, survivor of the Route 23 pileup."

"Billy Hitchcock, the top of his head taken off by a piece of shrapnel that flew off the train tracks when the train passed by, survivor of Flight 180."

"Kat, impaled through the head with a PVC pipe, survivor of the Route 23 pileup."

"Carter Horton, hit by a falling sign in Paris, survivor of Flight 180."

"Rory, cut into pieces by a barbed wire fence dislodged during an explosion, survivor of the Route 23 pileup."

Clear swallowed hard, not wanting to remember the death of the last person on the list. "Alex Browning," she finally choked out. "Hit on the head by a falling brick, survivor of Flight 180."

"Eugene, killed in an oxygen explosion, survivor of the Route 23 pileup." Clear glanced over at Kimberly, waiting for her to finish the list. It was Kim's turn to swallow and take a deep breath. "T-Thomas Burke," she said haltingly. "Drowned in a van that crashed into a lake, survivor of the Route 23 pileup."

Clear sympathetically put a hand on Kim's shoulder. "May they rest in peace," she murmured.

"Do you really think so?" Kim asked, looking up at Clear. "I mean…do you really think they are in peace? Or in some sort of afterlife?" Clear thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I don't know," said Clear. "Alex once talked about a sort of alternate universe where none of this ever happened, and everyone was together, but I don't know about an afterlife. And as for resting in peace, well, all we can do is hope, really. I know it sounds like bullshit, but…yeah."

"And now here we wait," Kim concluded solemnly. "Wait to live our lives out and die of old age or wait for Death to come for us.

"It won't let us wait," Clear replied, almost twice as solemn. "It'll come for us."

"But aren't we safe here?" Kim asked, finally moving to face Clear fully. Clear moved to do the same.

"I don't know," the last Flight 180 survivor said truthfully. "I don't know."

……………………

The rest of the day was a somber and reflective one, but despite the nightmarish memories, the two girls fell asleep easily that night. They're sleep would have been peaceful, but…

Kim, who was half-in-half-out of dreamland, suddenly felt strangely cold, as if something was blowing across her face. Her semi-conscious mind registered the fact that there was no air conditioning and began to wonder, but what she heard next snapped her instantly into wakefulness. Along with the strange wind was a low, baritone sound – almost like someone sighing with the barest hint of a deep hum…a sinister, bone-chilling sound that raised gooseflesh on Kim's arms. She moved her head to get a better view of Clear, whose bed was at a right angle to Kim's. The Flight 180 survivor was also awake, looking around the room warily. Clear noticed Kim out of the corner of her eye and turned to face her roommate, her face a mask of fearful questioning.

"D-did you hear that?" Kim whispered.


	3. Chapter Two: You're On The Run

CHAPTER TWO: "Let me remind you – you're on the run…"

"Did you hear that?" Clear heard Kimberly ask. The answer was, she had indeed. There was no mistaking the sound of death.

"I heard it," Clear confirmed. She looked Kimberly straight in the eye. "It's here."

Kim shook her head in disbelief. "That's not possible! I thought we were safe here!"

"There are too many possibilities with two of us," Clear countered. "Anything could happen.

"Do you think Death thinks that we'd turn on each other? Have one of us commit murder and get half the job done?" Kim asked. Though the prospect of Death having independent thought and thus a mind to think with was rather unusual, Kim and Clear knew that it was entirely possible.

"No," Clear shook her head in response to Kim's theory. "Too simple."

"Well, maybe suffocation, by the beds or padding." Kim's words hit Clear like a ton of bricks. The blonde looked at her roommate with wide eyes.

"Suffocation, yes…but not in our sleep." Clear had noticed that the temperature of the room had risen. "The vents. Our air…"

There was dead silence for a moment before Kimberly sprang from her bed. "We've gotta get out of here. We run. Now." She ran across the room and slammed the button that opened the door, then jumped back when sparks flew from the control panel. One managed to smolder for longer than a second on the cotton padding and instantly set the fabric alight. Clear too leapt from her bed and tried to stamp it out, but the fire continued to burn. The two girls looked at each other in complete horror and then at their only way out. The button had opened the door, but only slightly. Clear and Kimberly ran and pulled hard at the edges, pulling so hard that their fingernails started to rip – even though the door was only padding.

"Oh shit!" Kimberly cried when she looked over her shoulder, then instantly started to cough. She had seen that the fire had multiplied in size and intensity and was swiftly threatening to swallow them. Clear looked back too, redoubling her efforts when she saw the flames.

"Come on!" Clear shouted above the din of the fire. "Pull!" Just as the girls thought they were finally facing Death, they wrenched the door open and threw themselves into the hall, gulping sweet oxygen as flames consumed the spot where they'd just been.

"Oh God," breathed Kimberly, looking at the blaze that had once been their sanctuary. But no longer were she and Clear safe. Death had found them in their hideout, and now they had to escape its wrath yet again. Kim didn't really have any time to think on this though – Clear had grabbed her arm and was hauling her up. Kim stumbled numbly behind.

The girls burst through the high-security doors at full speed, avoiding the glass they had shattered in their dive at the exit. They flew passed shocked nurses who instantly sounded the alarm. Clear and Kimberly winced at the high-pitched shriek, though they continued their relentless sprint to the main doors. Just before the doors closed completely due to the emergency shutdown the alarm had triggered, the two girls forced their way through and collapsed onto the cobblestone driveway outside. Just as they managed to stand they were thrown back to the ground again as a larger part of the building was consumed in a roar of fire, the origin of which being the once-silent room that Clear and Kimberly had occupied.

"The lockdown!" Kim exclaimed suddenly from where she had fallen. "They can't get out!" She and Clear got to their feet in horror as the screams of the asylum's inhabitants reached their ears, the ceaseless flames piercing the night's blackness like a sinister funeral pyre of those still alive. Tears streamed down Kim's face.

"Wherever we go, it always follows…"

"Well, I think 'it' is full for now, so it should be safe enough for us to get the hell out of here," Clear said humorlessly. Kim looked at the blonde with incredulous astonishment. Clear met her gaze coolly. "Let's _go_," she insisted, grabbing Kimberly's arm and dragging her along. The girl could only follow helplessly.

……………………

Hours later, Kim and Clear slumped down to rest on the side of a fairly empty road, shivering in the cold night air. Their white outfits, faces, and hair bore traces of smoke and ash, and their hands and feet were nearly black with dirt. They were both exhausted and disheveled, but they knew they couldn't stop for good – not yet.

"Where are we gonna go?" Kimberly asked breathlessly. Clear shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. I don't know where we _can _go.

"My dad's moved, and even if he hadn't he wouldn't let us in anyway."

Clear frowned at Kimberly. "What makes you say that?"

Kim sighed. "He thinks I really _have _gone mad, what with me checking into Stonybrook. Plus he thinks you put all this garbage in my head and yet I'm responsible for all the deaths."

Clear sighed in turn. "I'm sorry. From what you've told me about him, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do that."

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." Kim thought for a moment. "How about your old house?"

Clear snorted. "Yeah, right. They tore it down, anyway. They're building a new one right now, so one of the ward nurses told me."

"Damn. Um…" Kimberly trailed off, and when she did speak again her voice was quiet. "What about A-Alex's parents?"

Clear's response was harsh with anger. "They trust me even less than your father trusts you. I'm on the blame list too – for his death. They made it quite clear to me that they didn't want to see me anywhere near their house. Ever."

Kimberly sighed. "I'm out of ideas. Where _are _we gonna go?"

"It would be easier if we were somewhere not terribly close to others," Clear thought aloud. The answer popped into Kimberly's head in an instant.

"Burke's apartment." The small brunette turned to Clear. "I don't know if his stuff's been cleared out or even stolen, but last time we were there we made it decently safe."

Clear frowned. "But the question is, is it _still _decently safe?"

"We'll find out, won't we?" Kimberly countered, hoping that Clear would go with her idea. Clear frowned some more, but finally nodded.

"All right. We'll go to the apartment. Depending on what we find, we might stay there for the rest of the night."

So the two girls got up and continued to walk down the darkened road, hoping that their destination would indeed be a safe waypoint and not an opportunity to die.


	4. Chapter Three: Before The Dawn

CHAPTER THREE: Before the Dawn

A.N.: I just thought – I might just try to use song lyrics or titles for each chapter name. The title of this chapter is that of the Evanescence song "Before the Dawn." Anyhow, here's the chapter.

……………………

The derelict apartment building was all but abandoned when Clear and Kimberly reached it. The condition of the place was such that the two girls exchanged wary glances, but they continued on nonetheless.

The horribly familiar hallway was colder on their feet than the road outside, but part of the chill they felt was not due to the temperature. Hideous brown stains on the floor marked where Nora had been decapitated by a rising elevator. Apparently no one had bothered to clean up the mess. At the sight, Kimberly shuddered as she and Clear clasped their hands tightly together. Though Kim had not been at the scene, she was as powerfully shaken as Clear was. The girls avoided the elevator completely and wisely took the stairs.

The door to Thomas Burke's apartment was not boarded up, but caution tape was strung across the doorframe. "Wonderful," said Clear sardonically. "It's still a deathtrap."

"No," Kimberly began, carefully pushing the door open. "I think it's to keep the looters away." Indeed, mach of the apartment was devoid of its previous furnishings. The kayak and bike were gone and the closet where Rory had seen the death sign was completely empty. The fridge had been knocked over and upon closer inspection, the girls discovered that every single cupboard was empty.

"So much for food," Clear said as she stepped carefully around the apartment after shutting and locking the door.

"Really don't think I could eat right now," Kim said as she sat on the dusty, moth-eaten couch that had once been so plush. She thought wistfully of Thomas – remembered the soft fondness in his eyes when he looked her way. Ever since he had saved her life, then held her after Tim had died, she wondered what it would be like to be in his arms when it wasn't a life or death situation. When they were maybe sitting together on the couch, Thomas stroking her hair…

Clear had to call Kim's name for the third time before the girl heard. "Kimberly?"

Kim looked up. "What?"

"Let's check his room, find some clothes, _attempt _to get some sleep." Kimberly nodded solemnly in affirmation.

Burke's room was virtually untouched, and Clear and Kim found baggy t-shirts and sweatpants. The sweatpants barely stayed on their waists, and they were both thankful that Thomas had been a thin man. Kimberly still wasn't sure if it was right to take Thomas's clothes, but she didn't say anything, knowing Clear would find her notion foolish.

The double bed was a little dusty, but quite warm when Kim and Clear crawled under the covers. Though Kim lay down, Clear sat up still, leaning back against the headboard. "Clear? Do you want me to take first watch?" Kimberly asked, stifling a yawn. Clear noticed this gesture and thus shook her head.

"I'll take watch for the rest of the night. You get some sleep."

"But that's not fair to you," Kim protested, though only half-heartedly.

"I don't feel like sleeping." It was true – Clear wasn't the least bit tired, and her mood was more contemplative than anything. "Sleep," the girl commanded.

Kimberly nodded slowly, snuggling comfortably into the pillow and closing her eyes. "'Night," she whispered sleepily.

"'Night," Clear replied, though she was gazing off into space.

……………………

Clear was still lost in her own thoughts of Death and Alex when she felt the girl beside her start to tremble. She glanced down to see that Kimberly was in the throes of what looked to be a vivid nightmare. Without a single change in demeanor or expression, Clear reached over and simply laid her hand across Kim's forehead. After a minute or so Kim's breathing finally slowed to normal and she was slumbering peacefully again. But for some reason, Clear didn't want to move her hand.

The gentle tingling warmth she felt when she touched Kimberly's skin surprised Clear greatly, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation. Clear had always seen the Route 23 survivor as a good friend, and nothing more. But now there was a niggling sensation in the back of her brain that insisted her feelings ran deeper. _But I'm not, _Clear thought. _Or…am I? I know that prison sometimes lead people to homosexual acts…_ She shook her head, frowning in confusion. Maybe she'd think on it later, once they were at least relatively safe. She found it hard to put out of her mind though when Kim's arm wrapped around her waist.

Kimberly had felt Clear's hand on her forehead and was wakened only slightly. She felt the warm, comforting presence of Clear's body next to her and felt instantly safe. Kim couldn't even remember what her nightmare was about – the only thing that mattered was Clear's hand on her forehead. The action of wrapping her arm around Clear's waist was not one of Kim's conscious will, but once she was holding the girl next to her she didn't want to let go. Sighing contentedly, she snuggled closer to Clear's side, not fully understanding what she was doing but doing it nonetheless. Why not? It felt nice.

Clear was so shocked at Kimberly's bold move that she could only stare open-mouthed at the sleeping girl by her side. Finally regaining composure, Clear moved her hand from Kim's forehead and instead wrapped it around the girl's shoulder so that the two of them were gently holding each other. The rightness of the feeling made Clear smile just a little as she rested her hand lightly on Kimberly's back, watching the girl savor her peaceful slumber. Neither girl moved from that position until dawn.


	5. Chapter Four: This Pain is Just Too Real

CHAPTER FOUR: "This pain is just too real..."

A.N.: The title of this chapter is from the song "My Immortal," by Evanescence. And sorry the chapters are so short – I'll try and make them longer and update more often. I've got four fics going that I need to finish, this included. On with the show.

……………………

Kimberly was awakened by Clear's hand tapping her shoulder roughly. When Kim rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she saw that the Flight 180 survivor's face wore its traditionally hardened expression. "We have to go," Clear said, the harsh coldness of her tone matching the icy look in her eyes. Knowing that it was pointless to argue, Kim let Clear haul her out of bed.

The girls took turns going to the bathroom before they tore up their asylum garb to wrap their feet, seeing as neither of then had any chance of fitting into Burke's shoes. By the time they left the apartment, it was broad daylight, and Clear and Kimberly were glad that Burke owned hooded sweaters.

"So where do we go now?" Kimberly asked after she and Clear had wandered aimlessly down a couple of side streets. "What do we do for food?"

"Not sure," Clear replied. "The looters got Burke's credit cards and cash before we did."

"You could treat him with a little respect," Kim finally shot at her. "Just because he's dead doesn't mean we can take his stuff and forget he ever existed."

Clear turned and gave Kimberly a hard stare. "What else did you have in mind? Visiting his grave and crying over it all day? It's not like he was going to come back and change out of his funeral tux."

The last sentence stung Kim the most. She finally stopped and whirled to face Clear, who faced her in turn. "Could you be any more detached? He was a great person, and you're acting like you don't care that he's dead. I don't think you _do _care that he's dead! He's just another victim to you! And you could at least call him Thomas instead of just throwing around his last name!"

Clear was silent as Kimberly stood breathing hard in front of her, angrier than Clear had seen her before. "You really cared for him, didn't you?" Clear asked quietly after a moment's pause. Kim blushed fiercely but didn't turn away.

"Yes," she replied in a shaky voice. "Yes, I did, and I would appreciate it if you stop talking about him so off-handedly."

Clear paused again. "Kimberly," she finally began. "I cared for Alex more than I cared for anything or anyone else in the world. I know what it's like to lose someone you love, and you conveniently seem to have forgotten that. I haven't. I carry his death with me every single day of my life. Sorry if it seems to you like I'm treating Burke – oh, sorry, _Thomas _– in an offhanded way, but remember that he's not the only one who died. You may think I have no respect for the dead, but trust me when I say I do – probably more than you ever will."

"And how's that?" Kimberly shot back furiously.

"All the people who died on Flight 180? And then everyone who died after that? They were all people I knew well, and many of them were my friends."

"I lost my friends too! And besides, weren't you the outcast?"

Clear was finally starting to lose her temper. "Shut the fuck up about what you don't know, Kimberly. Rory? Eugene? The others? None of them were people you knew well. None of them were close to you. I had to watch one friend get hit by a bus, one get the top of his head taken off by a piece of railroad debris, one get crushed by a sign, and then one – the one I loved – get his head smashed in with a loose brick. And not only that, before all this happened, my father's head was blasted off by a shotgun!"

"Are you forgetting that my mom died the same way your dad did?" Kim raged, tears springing to her eyes. "And just because I watched my friends explode all at once isn't any less horrifying as you watching them die one by one! You really are a bitch, Clear! You act all tough to hide the fact that you're taking the same shit just as hard as I am! You're a coward, Clear! A motherfucking _coward_!"

Kimberly suddenly reeled and saw stars, barely having registered the sound of Clear's hand striking her face. "Don't…you…_ever_…say that to me again. _Ever_. I'm the reason the two of us are still alive right now."

"What kind of a life is it when you know you'll be running forever?" Kim asked, voice dripping with venom as she tried to wipe away the now steady stream of tears.

"It's life. It just is. Now let's go find some food." With that, Clear simply turned and headed off at a brisk and deliberate pace. Still shocked by the blow Clear had given her, Kim could only stumble along behind.

……………………

Clear didn't trust the food at the soup kitchen (she and Kimberly were still on the run, after all), so the two girls walked around aimlessly until noon, starting to become desperate for food. Neither girl said anything as they walked. They were both still pissed at each other for the day's earlier occurrence. Kimberly's mind had finally hit the gutter to the point where she was thinking of stealing when Clear had an idea. It turned out to be what Kim was thinking of – stealing.

"Is there some _honest _way we can get something to eat before I make my hair into spaghetti?" Kim asked sourly. Clear glared at the small girl, having no other answer to the question.

"Well, whoring is slightly honest, I suppose."

Kimberly looked at Clear as if the blonde had three heads.

After a little more walking, Kimberly finally screeched to a stop at a phone booth, an idea starting to form. Clear watched her in bemusement as Kim flipped through the phone book. "And…who are we looking for?"

"I know who will give us shelter," Kim said without looking up.

Clear was surprised. "And who might that be?"

Kim looked up at Clear, eyes shining with growing relief. "Rory's mother, Mrs. Peters. She visited us, remember? She thanked me for trying to help Rory! She called me an angel!"

"And am I invisible or what?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Rory gave _me _his keys, remember?"

Clear sighed in resignation. "A weak point, but a good one."

Kimberly searched some more until she finally ripped a page from the phone book. "Here we go – 423 Madison Ave. That's where she lives."

"Let's go," Clear said unnecessarily as she grabbed the page from Kim, turning and heading down the street. Kim followed behind, though the memory of Rory's death had now resurfaced…

…_Burke had ducked as the barbed wire fence went flying over his head, torn loose by the explosion. He watched in relief as it passed him by, then horror as it went straight for Rory. Kimberly put her hand over her mouth as the wire flew through Rory, lopping off his arm. The young man looked stunned as blood trickled from his mouth…then he fell to the ground…in pieces._

Kimberly wiped her eyes roughly and hurried to catch up with Clear.


	6. Chapter Five: My Weakness

CHAPTER FIVE: "My weakness is that I care too much."

A.N.: The title of this chapter is from the song "Scars" by Papa Roach.

Disclaimer: I'm only adding this because I'm introducing new characters. No one in or mentioned in the _Final Destination _movies belongs to me. Just the new character I'm adding (Rory's mom was mentioned in the second film, so I'm technically not adding her as a "new" character). And the "fantasy" sequence was inspired by a story by fan author spikeme4now. If you're a Buffy fan, _read that stuff_.

……………………

Clear and Kimberly reached Madison Avenue without a problem, and it was Kim who tentatively knocked on Mrs. Peters' door. After a moment or so, a woman in her late sixties opened the door and smiled widely when she saw the girls.

"Kimberly! Clear! What on Earth brings you to my doorstep?" Before either of the girls could answer, Mrs. Peters continued to speak. "And you both look a fright! What happened to you two? Here, come inside, I'll make you both some tea." Shocked at the warm welcome, the girls could only obey.

"Thank you, Mrs. Peters," Kimberly said graciously as she and Clear stepped inside, shutting the door behind them and wiping their "shoes" on the mat. Mrs. Peters lived in the sort of house one would expect a grandmother to have: The rug in the living room was old-fashioned and careworn, the couch and armchair each had a crocheted quilt draped over the back, and a grandfather clock ticked with monotonous merriment against the wall by the window. The dining room contained a table that was also rather careworn, but the house had a modern-day porch with a sliding glass door.

"Sit! Sit!" Mrs. Peters commanded, gesturing to the chairs at the table. Kim and Clear quickly obeyed, already thankful that they had come to woman's house.

"Good thinking," Clear said to Kim, voicing the fore mentioned thought that they both shared as Mrs. Peters bustled around the kitchen. Surprisingly enough, Kimberly blushed.

"Thanks," she replied.

Mrs. Peters reappeared a moment later with a tray of chocolate chip cookies and three steaming hot cups of tea. Setting the tray on the table, the set a cup each in front of Kim and Clear before putting one on the table in front of her chair. Mrs. Peters then sat down and gestured for the girls to have some cookies. They did so without hesitation, though they tried not to scarf them down too fast.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Peters," Kimberly said again. "You really didn't have to do this for us. I mean, we did just kind of walk up to your door – "

"No trouble at all, dear," Mrs. Peters reassured her, cutting Kim off. "It's good to see you two, anyhow. And again I ask, what happened? You look like you've seen Hell!"

Kimberly and Clear looked at each other. "Well, we kinda did," Clear said slowly. At Mrs. Peters' shocked expression, Clear explained, "We got caught in the asylum fire. We just made it out in time."

Kim tensed up, waiting for Mrs. Peters to freak because there were crazy people in her house and then kick the two girls out, but the woman's response surprised her.

"Oh my! Thank goodness you girls are ok! I heard that a building had caught fire the next town over, but I hadn't realized it was the asylum! I'm so glad you two are all right! You're very lucky!" Seeing that Clear and Kim were both agape, Mrs. Peters chuckled. "Yes, dears, I know that you lived in the asylum; Maria told me. I can imagine why you wanted to, after all you both have been through."

"I…I'm glad you can understand," said Clear with a small smile. "And not think that we're crazy."

Mrs. Peters chuckled again. "Hardly, girls. I know what it's like to want to feel safe."

Both girls smiled appreciatively before Kimberly spoke up. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who's Maria?"

"She's Rory's twin sister," Mrs. Peters explained. "In fact, I'm expecting her later this afternoon, at about five." She looked at the clock on the kitchen wall; it was half-past one. "You might be waiting awhile. Why don't you lie down and rest? You look exhausted!"

"We are a bit tired," Kim admitted, though "tired" was a mild understatement.

"You can sleep in Rory's old room," Mrs. Peters said as all three of them got up from the table. "It's down the hall: the last room on the right."

"Thank you so much," said Clear, showing true appreciation for the first time. "You really are a wonderfully kind person."

Kimberly looked at Clear in slight shock: she had no idea the girl could be that kind. Mrs. Peters smiled and blushed. "Oh, it's nothing dears. And I'll save your tea for later, how's that?"

After nodding and thanking her again, Kim and Clear entered Rory's old room, gently closing the door behind them. The room was rather plain: the walls were a typical white, and the only furniture was the bed, a small desk, and a bookshelf. Kim smiled when she saw the bookshelf: it was filled mostly with comics and action figures. The room had definitely belonged to Rory once.

Clear had flopped onto the bed while Kimberly had been looking around, and Kim finally turned to join her. She lay down beside the other girl and the two rolled on their sides to face each other. "How're you doing?" Clear asked softly after a moment.

"Could be better," Kimberly said truthfully. Clear allowed herself a small smile. Kim smiled in return, but not for long. "Clear…I'm sorry about what I said…earlier today."

"I understand," said Clear meaningfully. "I really do, and I'm just as lost and frustrated and scared as you are." At Kim's frown, Clear elaborated. "Just 'cause this is the second time I've dealt with Death doesn't make it any easier. I'm not an expert just because I've faced Death once already. I understand how you feel, I do. I know you had feelings for Burke, just the way I had feelings for Alex. I just…deal with things a different way."

"You block your emotions entirely," Kim said in realization. "That way they can't hurt you."

"Whereas you let everything out, expressing all that you feel to get it out of your system. We're different that way, Kimberly. And just…try not to take it out on me?"

Kim smiled. "Ok. Try not to be to hard on me?"

"Ok," Clear replied, smiling in return. Kim then decided to make a very bold move.

"Thank you," she said, gently kissing Clear on the cheek. Clear didn't get angry, however, she just kissed Kim on the forehead in return.

"You're welcome."

The two girls unwittingly held each other's hands as they fell asleep.

……………………

"Girls?" Mrs. Peters called out as she knocked on the bedroom door. "Dinner's almost ready and Maria just got here. Join us if you're not too tired, won't you?"

At Mrs. Peters' voice, Kimberly groggily opened her eyes…and found herself practically hugging Clear. Clear, also having just woken up, noticed this too, and the two girls sheepishly pulled away and rolled off the bed. "Dinner does sound nice," Kimberly admitted.

"No shit it does," Clear replied. "I'm hungry enough to eat _you_." Clear had meant the phrase as a joke about Kim's size, and Kim recognized that…but both of them also caught the unintentional double meaning. Clear blushed a furious red. "I mean…I didn't…"

"I get it," said Kim quickly, gesturing for her to stop. Both girls were rather subdued when they left the bedroom and walked down the hall.

"Ah, there you are!" said Mrs. Peters cheerily when Kimberly and Clear entered the kitchen. The older woman was standing by the stove tending homemade tomato sauce while a younger woman was setting places at the dining room table. The two girls figured it was Maria, seeing as she looked exactly like the female version of Rory – hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and even height. The young woman looked up as she set down the last plate just as she heard her mother speak. She looked up at the two girls and smiled.

"You must be Clear and Kimberly," Maria said, walking over and shaking their hands. "I just dunno who is who."

Kimberly managed a shy smile. Maria and Rory had the same sense of humor. "I'm Kimberly, that's Clear," she replied. Clear didn't bother to smile.

"I'm Maria," Maria said. "Though I think Ma told you a little about me."

"Just a little," Kimberly replied. Maria just smiled in return, then arched an eyebrow.

"Ok, after dinner, the three of us are _so _going shopping."

Surprisingly, it was Clear who spoke up. "You really don't have to do that for us."

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. And besides, I just got my paycheck, and it includes overtime and holiday pay; I'm all for shopping."

"What is it you do? If you don't mind me asking," Kimberly added quickly.

"I don't mind at all. I'm a computer game programmer and tester." The looks on Kim's and Clear's faces made Maria laugh. "Yeah, it's definitely a cool job. Tough, but pretty cool."

"Dinner's ready, girls!" Mrs. Peters said. "Maria, help me carry some of this to the table?"

"Sure thing, Ma," Maria replied, heading into the kitchen to help her mother. Clear and Kimberly weren't sure if they should sit our not, so they stood by the table and waited quietly.

"Sit down, girls! Don't be shy!" said Mrs. Peters as she walked into the kitchen balancing a dish of food in each hand. Clear and Kimberly obeyed, though they were still shy.

Dinner was pasta with homemade sauce along with a delicious salad and some garlic bread. Kimberly and Clear had to make a conscious effort not to literally shovel the food into their mouths. They all had tea to drink, Kimberly's and Clear's drinks being the untouched ones from earlier in the afternoon. After dinner the two girls offered to help Mrs. Peters with the dishes, not forgetting to thank her for everything for about the ninetieth time. Mrs. Peters stubbornly refused their help, and Maria backed her mother up, saying that it was time for a shopping trip anyway. So Kimberly and Clear each borrowed a spare pair of Maria's shoes (she had many, even at her mother's house) and headed for the mall.

Only after a full three hours of shopping, Maria was finally satisfied that the girls had what they needed. She stood the two girls before her and looked at them appraisingly.

Kimberly had chosen a simple, modest, long-sleeved white peasant top along with a pair of feminine khaki pants. She'd also gone with simple brown loafers as shoes, and even Clear had to agree that they looked good on her. For pajamas, she'd picked out a long, sleeveless white nightgown, and her jacket choice was a dark purple hoodie, though it was wool instead of cotton.

Clear had gone with dark denim jeans and a red t-shirt with a felt griffin off-center on the front. Her shoes were simply navy canvas shoes, about as unremarkable as Kim's loafers. For pajamas she'd found a nice blue t-shirt and pants set; the jacket she chose was white and parka-like, but hoodless.

After Maria had gotten both the girls backpacks to carry their things in, she took them to the mall drugstore to get toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, towels, hairbrushes, and other necessities they might need. She even got them books for the occasional boredom threat. Clear got an interesting looking sci-fi novel called _Cordelia's Honor_, by Lois McMaster Bujold, while Kimberly settled on the autobiography _Girl, Interrupted_, by Susanna Kaysen (Maria had originally suggested _The Bone Collector_, by Jeffery Deaver, but Clear knew that the book plot included a series of gruesome deaths and managed to stop Rory's sister from possibly causing Kim's toughening shell to crack from memory and "guilt stress"). Maria also got the two girls notebooks and pens in case they wanted to write down whatever was on their minds.

The second-to-last stop on the shopping trip was the movie-rental outlet, and the three young women settled on _The Fifth Element_, _Resident Evil_, and _The Quiet Man_, the third movie being selected so as to provide Mrs. Peters with a suitable John Wayne movie. Maria finally ended the trip with a stop at the ice cream parlor.

"Thank you so much for doing this for us, Maria," Kimberly said after swallowing another spoonful of ice cream. She had been saying different variations of the phrase after each bit of ice cream she ate, and Maria and Clear both were becoming increasingly amused, especially since Clear hadn't really said anything yet. "It really is kind of you," Kim continued. "You really didn't have to spend all that on us, and we really are grateful." As she said the last part of her sentence, Kim whapped Clear on the leg, sending her the message that she should agree and getting a strange buzz from the contact.

"Seriously, thank you," said Clear, also getting the odd tingling feeling and trying to ignore it, seeing as she knew exactly what the source was. "You've really done a lot for us." She turned to Kim. "And you didn't need to smack me to get me to say that."

Kim blushed redder than the maraschino cherry on top of her ice cream while Maria laughed. Clear had the sudden urge to kiss Kim's flushed cheek and ended up having to redouble her efforts to keep the tingling sensation at bay. Neither Kim nor Maria noticed, to Clear's thankfulness. As tough as she was on the outside, the emotions stirring within her were new and subduing.

……………………

Clear had already seen _Fifth Element_ while Kimberly hadn't, so Clear got the shower while Kimberly and Maria watched the movie. As Clear was reveling in the fact that she was finally cleaning up in a real shower (though remaining alert), she couldn't help but think of the girl in the living room: the girl who had been through so much, just like Clear. How Kim's brown hair seemed to perfectly frame her face, how her brilliant blue eyes seemed to take in everything around her and yet reveal herself to the world…

Clear had to press her back against the wall of the shower to keep herself standing as vivid images flashed through her head. She suddenly imagined Kimberly right next to her, rubbing soap all over the girl's back, kissing her neck. Clear could almost see herself turning around to grab Kim and kiss her roughly, almost feel herself pull the small girl tightly to her in a desperate attempt to feel every inch of skin possible. Clear's jaw dropped and she closed her eyes when new scenes poured into her mind: scenes depicting exactly what she wanted to do to Kimberly while the two of them were beneath the steady cascade of hot water. If Clear hadn't been so desperate for a true shower, she would have cranked the cold water to max right then. But instead she gritted her teeth and waited for the fantasies to pass. The thoughts didn't scare her, but the fact that she _liked _them did.

Clear came into the living room in the middle of the movie, dressed in her new pajamas, body clean. Her mind was still a bit "dirty," but Clear was doing her best to ignore it. Thankfully, neither Maria nor Kim noticed her discomfort, and the three of them finished the movie in bouts of giggles.

_Resident Evil _was next, and since Clear hadn't seen it and Kimberly had, Kim got the shower while Clear and Maria started the movie. As Kim shampooed her hair, savoring the feeling of cleanliness, she couldn't help but let her mind wander just a little. She imagined Clear sitting in the living room, her skin and hair were still wet from the shower, how sexy she looked in her blue pajamas…

Just as Clear had suddenly found herself deep in a sexual fantasy, Kimberly found her mind swirling with unbidden thoughts and images. She gasped as she imagined kissing Clear deeply, their tongues entwined in an intricate dance. In her fantasy, Kim rubbed her hands all over Clear's wet body, savoring the feel of the girl's smooth skin against her fingertips. She imagined suckling at her in the most erotic fashion, her head moving down as Clear's head went back as she moaned in appreciation. And then – oh God, and then…

Like Clear, Kimberly had to use the wall to hold herself up as her daydream ran wild. She could practically hear herself cry out in her mind as Clear ran her hands over every inch of her fantasy body. Though she kept the hot water on, Kim was struggling to keep her thoughts in check: they were just so_ wrong_. But then, why did they feel so _right_?

Kimberly came into the living room in the middle of _Resident Evil_, and Clear couldn't help but swallow hard as she watched her sit down next to Maria. Her still-wet body shone in the ever-changing light from the TV, and her silky nightgown made her look like a delicate angel. Looking at the girl, all Clear wanted to do was cradle her to her chest and kiss her over and over… She managed to look away right as Kimberly looked at her. Kim had felt eyes on her, but when she turned, Clear was intently watching Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez kick some serious zombie ass. It was then Kim's turn to imagine the two of them lying under the covers of a soft bed, their legs entwined as they gently caressed one another, kissing tenderly.

To the quiet relief of both girls, Maria was clueless as to what was going on.

……………………

When _Resident Evil _was over the two girls begged Maria to sleep in Rory's old room, insisting that they would take the couch and floor in the living room. When Maria reminded them that she too had a room in the house, Clear and Kimberly both felt their hearts drop into their stomachs: they would be sleeping side-by-side.

When the two girls were done brushing their teeth, they sat on the bed and silently wrote in their notebooks, needing to vent a little ("a little" translating to enough writing to cause a hand cramp). Once their thoughts had been poured out onto paper, the girls turned off the lights and stood frozen before the bed, neither knowing what the other was thinking.

It took a lot of courage and nearly a full five minutes before the girls got into bed and lay down on the pillows, keeping as much space between them as possible. "So…some day," Kimberly began lamely, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah…some day," Clear replied.

The silence became unbearable again. "Uh, sleep?" Kim asked desperately.

"Yes…sleep. Would be nice. Yeah," Clear babbled in relief.

"Well, uh, good night," Kim finished, curling up under the covers as quickly as she could.

"You too," said Clear, also curling up so that the two girls were back-to-back.

Though sleep found them fast, their dreams ran wild.


	7. Interlude

INTERLUDE:

A.N.: Journal entries – so who wants to know what the girls are thinking? Hee hee.

Sorry if it's kinda short – I honestly don't think two journal entries could take up six pages, let alone one. And plus, what both girls have to say can easily and bluntly be put in a few sentences. Their conflict takes up the rest of their entries.

……………………

KIMBERLY'S JOURNAL ENTRY

D_ear Journal,_

_So much has happened since the asylum fire. In what feels like a heartbeat I suddenly find Clear and myself cleaned up, owning new clothes and accessories, and sleeping in a warm bed at Mrs. Peters' house (Rory's mom). It's like a freakin' whirlwind! Ok, ok, enough of that._

_It was my idea to come here, actually – go me! I thought that since Rory's mom had talked to me before Clear and I checked into Stonybrook that she'd be "sympathetic to our cause," our cause being to find shelter and food. She was MORE than sympathetic – she and Maria (Rory's twin sis) have given Clear and me so much in such a short space of time. I mean, I have new clothes, new stuff, new EVERYTHING, I'm clean, I'm safe…ok, rambling here, I know._

_I should stop avoiding everything and write out my thoughts here. It's not like anyone's going to read it…I hope. The thing is, I think I'm starting to get feelings for Clear._

_I know, how weird does that sound? I mean, of all things! But when I woke up hugging her… And even in the mall when I whapped her briefly, I felt something odd. Has all this drama/trauma completely changed the wiring of my brain? Or have I just not noticed it before?_

_And the shower! Oh my God! All I was doing was trying to scrub all the grime off when I start fantasizing about me and Clear doing…things! And not just a brief fantasy, oh no, this was a play-by-play with vivid detail! I could practically feel her running her hands all over my body – I could almost feel MY-self touching HER! And the thing is, in my mind, it felt so good. I mean, I never thought anything could feel so good in just a thought! I really, really, REALLY shouldn't be having thoughts like that about Clear, but… I dunno. It's all so strange._

_I had a huge crush on Thomas, no doubts there, and I'd barely known him at all. But then, he did save my life and comfort me whenever I saw a death. How horrible does that sound: "every time I saw a death"? Yes, I felt something for him, and I cried hard when he died. But now…just being around Clear…it makes my stomach flutter, and a strange ache literally forms in my heart when our eyes meet. I don't know what to make of it, and I certainly have no intention of acting on it. What if Clear pulls away if I try to get too close? Oh my God, what am I SAYING??? I still can't believe these thoughts are running through my head._

_I'm exhausted, so it's bedtime for me. Oh great – I just remembered that I'll be sleeping next to Clear. I just hope my strange new feelings don't control my body in my sleep. If that happened I don't know HOW I'd explain myself. I probably shouldn't even think about that possibility._

_G'night,_

_Kimberly_

……………………

CLEAR'S JOURNAL ENTRY

D_ear Journal,_

_More has happened in the past 24 hours than I can even hope to comprehend all at once, let alone write down. The only things I know for certain at the moment is that I am warm, safe, and with Kimberly. But that last bit has become a bit problematic. Of all the crazy things to happen in an already chaotic time, I've discovered I have feelings for my fellow survivor. But then, if it's craziness within chaos, does that make it normal? Either way, it's one of the strangest things to ever happen to me – and that's saying something._

_Kimberly…Kimberly…Kimberly. I can't even begin to describe how much she's suddenly become intoxicating whenever I look at her. But it just doesn't make sense. Why am I falling for her if I loved Alex? Is it that I'm desperate in some way?_

Loved. Past tense. Loved Alex before, and yet not now. His memory will always be with me of course, but somehow I've been letting go and moving on – without my even knowing! Has Kimberly been a part of that? Again I wonder if I only have feelings for her because until 24 hours ago we shared the same room for a year. Ironically enough, we're now sharing the same bed, which really does not help matters. I'm really hoping that I don't do anything in my sleep that will haunt me for the rest of eternity along with the memories I wish were just nightmares.

I'm still finding my new feelings hard to believe. I had a vivid fantasy of Kimberly and I (God, I hope no one reads this) making love in the shower, and all I was doing was trying to clean up. Why now? Why not when we were still in the asylum? Or was I attracted to her in the asylum but just didn't notice? Either way, I can't change my thoughts and feelings even if I want to.

…But I'm not so sure I want to.

- Clear


	8. Chapter Six: They Turn From Me

CHAPTER SIX: "So one by one they turn from me…"

A.N.: The song is "Walk Through the Fire" from the _Buffy _episode "Once More, With Feeling." This is where thoughts start to get naughtier, folks…and the story starts to get darker.

……………………

When Clear woke up the next morning she was thankfully still back-to-back with Kimberly, but every single movement made her shiver with arousal, making her wonder what on earth she'd dreamed the night before. She carefully slipped out of bed to go relieve herself in more than one sense, and in the process woke Kimberly up.

"Mmn?" the half-conscious brunette asked incoherently.

"Go back to sleep," Clear said gently. Kim obliged. As Clear rid herself of tension in the bathroom, she wondered in great detail what it would be like to have Kimberly's hands bring her to ecstasy. _StopitstopitSTOPIT, _the blonde chastised herself as she followed the smell of fresh breakfast.

When she entered the kitchen she found Mrs. Peters and Maria practically dancing around each other in an attempt to cook five different kinds of foods. "Good morning, Clear!" Mrs. Peters said, looking up at the girl's entrance. Sit down, make yourself comfortable!" Clear was about to open her mouth to ask if she could help, but Mrs. Peters seemed to read her mind. "We don't need any help, dear, go ahead and sit down."

"Uh, thank you," Clear said a little shyly, sitting cautiously on the couch.

Back in Rory's old room, Kimberly woke up fully, feeling just as aroused as Clear had been, but unlike Clear, she remembered her dream. She had been lying with the blonde on a soft feather bed, sobbing. Clear had Kimberly's head in her lap and was stroking the girl's hair, whispering words of comfort in her ear. Kimberly had no idea what she'd been crying about, but she'd felt warm and safe in Clear's arms. Suddenly the two were lying side by side, both of them naked. Clear was still caressing Kim, but her hands were running across her breasts, cupping the small mounds in her hands. Kimberly arched her back and moaned as Clear administered sweet torture with her fingertips, tracing trails lower and lower down her stomach until her hand met the fiery arousal building between Kim's legs. Just as Clear was about to complete her exploration, Kimberly woke up, completely and totally frustrated. She had to ease her tension in the bathroom several times before she was composed enough to convene with the others in the kitchen.

When Kim entered, Clear was sipping at some hot chocolate and Maria was just coming inside with the paper. Kimberly sat down carefully next to Clear, not sure how close she wanted to get to the girl yet. Clear too looked uncomfortable at Kim's closeness, but more because she was afraid that she would lose control, take Kimberly into her arms, and kiss her senseless. Both girls forgot their feelings however when Maria put the paper on the table, both of them eager to catch up on the world outside.

The asylum fire wasn't mentioned on the front page of the main paper, but Kimberly found a picture of the flames in all their sickening glory gracing the front of the "Local" section. She shuddered at the memory and flipped to the next page looking for better news. She didn't find it.

Clear looked up from the article she was reading when she heard Kim gasp. The girl had dropped the paper on the table and was gripping the wood as if to crush it to sawdust. Her face was paler than Clear had ever seen it before, and the girl was trembling. Tears began streaming down the small brunette's cheeks as she stared in horror at the paper. Clear looked over her shoulder and her stomach dropped when she saw the headline. "MAN DIES IN FREAK ACCIDENT ON FREEWAY." The man in question was Kimberly's father.

Clear caught the sobbing girl as she fell from her chair, stroking the girl's back as she held her close. She had no words of comfort to give to her distraught friend, and could only hold her as the girl's anguish left her in a flood of tears. Kimberly wrapped her arms around Clear's neck, clutching the girl with no intention of letting go. She needed Clear's warmth and comfort more than anything, and the feel of being in her arms let Kimberly know she wasn't alone.

"Good Lord, child! What on earth is wrong?" Mrs. Peters asked as she and Maria hurried over to where Clear knelt on the floor, held holding sobbing friend. When the two women saw the newspaper article they slumped visibly. In bold black print, seeming to stand out from all the other words, the phrase, "Survived by his daughter, Kimberly," burned the paper with its harsh clarity.

"I'm here, I'm here," Clear murmured in Kimberly's hair. "Just let it out, Kimberly. I'm right here." She kissed the girl's forehead briefly in order to reinforce her words. Kimberly said nothing – just held onto Clear as if she was a lifeline.

"Oh my God…" Maria said, gripping the back of a chair for support as she stared in horror at the paper. Mrs. Peters said nothing, though sorrow filled her face. She quickly scooped up the entire newspaper and carried it to the back door, opening it and throwing the vile news into the recycling bin. When that was done, she helped Clear lift Kimberly enough to guide her to the couch, where the girl collapsed again, still crying. Clear sat beside her, and Kimberly fell over and landed with her head in her friend's lap. Mrs. Peters took a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over the girl's shaking form. Clear looked at the woman gratefully.

"Maria, will you set a blanket out on the rug? It looks like we may be having breakfast in here," Mrs. Peters said softly.

It took Maria a minute to register the request through her shock, but she eventually nodded, and she and her mother left the girls alone in the living room.

Clear felt surprisingly compassionate as she stroked Kimberly's hair. The girl was slowly becoming to mean so much to her, and the news of her father's death hurt Clear as much as it did Kimberly. She could only imagine how alone and helpless Kimberly felt. _But she's not alone,_ Clear thought. _She has me. _The completely uncharacteristic thought stunned her for a moment, but she pushed the surprise out of her mind. Kimberly was distraught, and Clear wanted nothing else on her mind if she was to offer Kimberly the comfort she needed. Offer the comfort she needed _without _paying attention to the fact that the girl's head was on Clear's lap in such a way that if Kimberly moved an inch she would be kissing the blonde's most intimate spot.

As Kimberly lay in her friend's lap, thoughts of her dream returned to her. She wondered if her dream had been a sort of premonition, but that would mean that she and Clear would have sex later that afternoon, which she doubted. It was then that she realized that she was close to kissing Clear's center, and the thought made her lightheaded even through her tears. Deciding that a change of position would be beneficial, Kim got up and sat on Clear's left, draping her legs over the girl's lap and wrapping her arms around her neck. She couldn't help but snuggle closer as she rested her head on Clear's shoulder.

Clear was startled for a moment, but reached for the blanket that had fallen off of Kimberly's shoulders and re-wrapped it around the trembling girl. Once that was done, she held the girl close, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. Clear's heart fluttered when Kim sighed at the contact as her tears began to abate. Clear kissed the girl's forehead again, then her cheek. "I'm here," she repeated. "I'll never leave. I'm here."

A pang of longing went through Kimberly's heart, but she pushed it aside and shifted so that she was pressed against Clear as much as she could be. The contact made her tingle all over, but she needed it more than anything. She moved her head down and felt the blonde's heart beating rapidly in her chest. Kim wondered what on earth was causing Clear's pulse to race, and she didn't dare contemplate what she hoped the reason was.

When Kimberly put her head on her chest, it was all Clear could do not to climax on the spot. She knew that Kim might only be snuggling this close because she needed comfort, but a hidden part of her hoped that it was more than that.

……………………

As much as Mrs. Peters, Maria, and Clear tried, Kimberly wouldn't have a single bite of pancake, and Clear ended up half-carrying the girl back to the room they shared. For hours and hours Kimberly lay morosely on the bed with Clear beside her, still stroking the girl's brown hair. As Kim lay in total silence, breaking in and out of small bouts of tears, Clear sat and mused as to why she felt the girl's pain as if it was her own. Had they really become that close in the space of a year?

_It's inevitable, _she said to herself. _A year together in the same room, the same building, sharing the same emotions. Every day. Every minute. You'd look into her eyes and see the same pain. How can you not love her?_

Clear's train of thought screeched to a halt and nearly derailed._ Love _her??? It was absurd. But…did she? Clear thought back to when they were in Burke's apartment for the night and they had ended up in each other's arms, and then later the day before when Kimberly had kissed her on the cheek and Clear had returned the kiss on the girl's forehead. Friendship?

Clear closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She'd have to be a fool not to recognize what was happening. She was falling in love with Kimberly. _Hell, after last night's shower,_ she thought wryly, remembering how in her fantasy she had made love to the petite brunette. But as obvious and undeniable as it was, Clear was still struggling to accept and understand it.

The blonde looked down at Kimberly to see that she had drifted off, exhausted by her tears and the pain of her loss. _Maybe…_Clear let out her breath in a rush. _I am _so _going to hell for this._ Gathering her courage and taking another deep breath, she bent over Kimberly and kissed her cheek, barely a millimeter away from the girl's lips. Clear savored the feel of the brunette's skin before pulling away, feeling warm both inside and out. She felt a little ashamed of herself, but that feeling vanished when she saw the look on Kimberly's face. Despite the sorrow she was feeling, she was smiling in her sleep, looking utterly content.

Relieved, Clear drew the covers over the girl's shoulders and quietly left the room.

……………………

While Mrs. Peters was out on an errand that afternoon, Maria and Clear sat listlessly in front of the TV, flipping through channels. Supposedly there was a zombie movie marathon on HBO, but they hadn't found it yet.

Talk show…_Sesame Street_…commercial…news…talk show…zom—

"Wait," Clear said, even though they'd reached their destination. "Go back a few channels." Maria complied. "Stop!"

On the news was a collapsed house, where police officers and even firefighters were picking through the rubble. Clear gaped in horror as the reporter on the screen calmly described the scene.

"I'm here at the site of the collapse, where the rubble is desperately being searched for Mr. and Mrs. Browning. As of yet no apparent cause of the collapse has been determined, but a year ago a loose brick off the roof killed the Brownings' son, Alex, a survivor of the Flight 180 tragedy…"

"Enjoy the zombie movies," Clear said weakly as she staggered up from the couch and stumbled for Rory's old room. She collapsed next to Kimberly on the small bed and curled up into a ball.

"What happened?" she heard Kimberly whisper, turning towards her friend.

"Alex's parents just died…" she said hoarsely. And then it was her turn to retreat into grief.

……………………

Dinner was a silent affair. Maria had recognized the significance of the news story and had passed the information on to Mrs. Peters. Neither woman was surprised when the girls ate little and retreated to bed early.

In the small hours of the next morning, Clear dreamt she was running. She had Kimberly's hand in hers, racing as if their lives depended on it. Kimberly looked behind her and gasped, instantly increasing her pace. Her reaction compelled Clear to look over her own shoulder.

Behind them was a monstrous tornado, gaining fast. Like a living presence it bore down on them, roaring deafeningly as it destroyed everything in its path…

Clear sat bolt upright in bed, startling Kimberly out of a dreamless slumber. "Clear, what is it?" the girl asked.

"I just figured out Death's design."


	9. Chapter Seven: Make Us Strong

CHAPTER SEVEN: "It's only love, but love should make us strong."

A.N.: The chapter title is from the song "Only Love," by Heather Nova. It's a tamer song than the ones I've been using, but this is a slightly tamer chapter.

I was planning to have this story be a little longer, but it might end up short-ish – especially this chapter, which is going to be VERY short. No worries, though – I have plenty of Clear/Kimberly romance planned.

……………………

"Of course…" Kimberly said after Clear had explained her theory. "It goes after the ones we care about first until we're alone, and by then we're so desperate…. This is how it's getting to us."

Clear nodded. "And if we want to protect Mrs. Peters and Maria…"

"…then we have to leave," Kimberly finished. It broke both girls' hearts.

They took turns getting dressed silently and packing away everything Maria had gotten them into their backpacks, also her courtesy. Before they packed their notebooks away they tore out a few sheets of paper from each and wrote a long letter to Mrs. Peters and Maria, explaining everything, thanking them over and over again, and promising them that they would find a way to repay them. The letter was long enough that Kimberly's hand cramped up and Clear had to finish writing.

After they both signed, they grabbed their notebooks, quickly checking to see that they hadn't mixed them up by mistake. They had, and both girls' eyes went wide as dinner plates and their faces flushed a deep red when they caught the gist of the entries. They quickly closed the notebooks and flung them at each other as if they burned. Once the no-longer-secret writings of both girls had been packed away, the two girls walked off into the night once more, constantly looking back at the house of the women who had been so kind to them until it was out of sight.

……………………

"So where do we go now?" Kimberly asked as they walked, unable to hide the fact that she thought that all was lost.

"The mortician," Clear replied, her face grim. "He's the only one who can tell us how to change the design."

"But remember what he said last time? About how someone who was meant to die has to get new life because it forces Death to change his design?"

"I remember, but I don't understand." Clear frowned. "We were supposed to have died, but how do we get new lives if we're still living? I mean, it's not the metaphorical meaning, which implies the two of us doing something like joining a convent – we really have to get _new lives_."

"A rebirth without us dying," Kimberly pondered. "That'll be interesting to pull off." She sighed. "Anyway, do you plan for us to walk all the way to the mortuary? I mean, shouldn't we be leaving Mrs. Peters' house behind as fast as possible?" There was pain in her voice as she said this, and Clear understood completely.

"The safest way for us to get there is probably to walk. We're both the last ones marked for death in two different series of events, and we can't afford any extra danger."

Kimberly didn't answer, and when Clear glanced over, the expression on the girl's face nearly made her cry. Kimberly looked like she was ready to give up – ready to just let Death take her away, because always living on the run wasn't a life worth living. Abandoning all inhibitions, Clear reached out and gently took Kimberly's hand in hers. Kimberly gave her a startled glance, but then both girls locked gazes, and a mutual understanding passed between them.

Holding hands tightly, the two survivors walked onward.

……………………

It was close to dawn when Kimberly began to give out. Though she had gotten a few hours sleep before she and Clear left and though she had slept most of the day before, grief overwhelmed her to the point where all her energy left her in search of a happier host.

When she stumbled for the fourth or fifth time, nearly dragging Clear with her, the blonde stopped and wrapped Kimberly's arm around her shoulder. Kimberly instinctively wrapped her arm around Clear's waist, and the two continued walking in that fashion, Kimberly literally asleep on her feet.

Clear secretly would have liked nothing more than to cradle the girl in her arms and carry her, but it would draw attention to them, and Clear wasn't quite strong enough, especially not with the backpack in the way.

So she simply held her friend tighter as they walked on.

……………………

"Clear?"

Clear looked down at Kimberly. Neither of them had spoken for several hours, and they were just passing a park bench. "Can we sit down?" Kimberly continued. Clear nodded and led her over to the park bench. Kimberly didn't sit so much as collapse and begin sobbing. Startled, Clear wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair.

"Kimberly? What is it?"

"I can't do this anymore," Kim replied, her face buried in Clear's shoulder. "I just want to die, please just kill me, I can't do this anymore." Wracking sobs overtook her.

"No, Kimberly, no." Clear said firmly. She cupped the brunette's face in her hands and pulled back so she could look her in the eye. "This is what Death wants. He _wants _you to give in. He _wants _you to give up. Live, Kimberly. Don't give Death what he wants. Soon this will all be over, and we can live free. Don't give up, Kimberly." And then Clear said and did something completely uncharacteristic of her. She kissed Kimberly on the forehead. "Stay with me."

As Clear inwardly asked herself if she was going soft, Kimberly closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation of the kiss. As light as it was, she cherished it while it lasted. She sighed aloud in regret when Clear pulled away, then blushed when she realized how she'd reacted. Her sigh, however, was all Clear needed.

Cupping Kimberly's face in her hands, Clear pressed her lips to the girl's forehead and did not move away. Somewhere deep within her she wanted to never let go: to hold Kimberly in her arms forever. But Clear knew, of course, that this could never happen, so she contented herself for the moment with the feeling of Kimberly's skin beneath her lips and the girl's comforting weight against Clear's chest as the blonde held her close.

Both girls knew now, for certain, that they loved each other. But words could wait.

……………………

"Here we are again…" said Kimberly, desperate for anything to break the horrific silence that always surrounded the place where she and Clear stood. Before them was an old funeral home, and within was the answer to their questions.

Kimberly looked warily at the rugged stone building before grabbing Clear's hand. Clear took it gratefully and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Let's do this."

Though dreading what was to come, together they opened the rickety wooden door that would lead them beneath the funeral home to meet the mortician.


	10. Chapter Eight: It Ends Here Tonight

CHAPTER EIGHT: "Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight."

A.N.: It's 5:48 am, so thank goodness all I have to do is copy this chapter from my notebook. Sorry about the late update – school, finals, surgery. Also, I thought of an alternate Chapter Seven title: "I won't give in, I won't give up," from the song "Stand My Ground," by Within Temptation. The title for this chapter comes from "My Last Breath," by Evanescence. And yes, I know this chapter's ridiculously short – it's much longer handwritten. Ok, I'm done babbling now.

……………………

"Clear…Kimberly…welcome!" said the mortician in his eerily calm voice. Kimberly shuddered; his smile was altogether too knowing. She wanted to grab Clear's hand, but she didn't want the mortician to know anything more than he already did. Sensing this, Clear made sure to intentionally brush against Kimberly as she stepped forward.

"We need your help," she said firmly before her conscience (or fear, more like) could tell her to back down. The mortician's smile didn't waver.

"Ah, still running from death. You know you can't run forever."

"That's why we're here," Clear continued. "We want to defeat it. Tell us how?"

"I told you before," the mortician began, glancing at Kimberly briefly, "life that wasn't meant to be will break the cycle and cause Death to rewrite itself."

"But we're the last ones in the chain," Kimberly said, stepping up to stand beside Clear. "How do we break the cycles when we're the last ones?"

"Indeed, how do you reverse a cycle when the cycle is of one, with no spare between you and Death?"

"_Spare?_" exclaimed Kimberly, making a move towards the mortician. Clear broke the unspoken agreement and put her hand on Kim's arm to stop her. But the brief action caught the mortician's omniscient gaze. When he smiled again, it made Clear shudder.

"Caught in the circle, the catch twenty-two. To die, or not to die? Either way, you're dead."

If the girls weren't wary enough, this last comment filled them both with stark fear. Though they'd give anything to deny it, they knew that on some level he was right.

"How do we beat it?" Clear persisted through clenched teeth, though she was beginning to dread what the answer would be.

Still smiling, the mortician turned away from the two girls and walked over to one of his many drawers of sickening utensils. Kimberly and Clear shot each other frightened glances. 'What is he doing?' Kimberly mouthed carefully. Clear gave a slight shrug, making an effort to be just as surreptitious.

"There is no way to beat Death now," came the chilling voice, and the girls instantly turned back to look at the mortician. He still had his back to them; apparently he'd found whatever he'd been looking for (which was not necessarily a comforting thought for the girls). "You're too late." He turned to reveal a devious smile…and a shotgun. "Two barrels for two souls."

Kimberly could have sworn she felt the world tilt beneath her feet. Time stopped, and all sound ceased. Everything blurred except for the mortician, still smiling at her as he loaded the gun.

As her disorientation began to ebb, Kimberly became aware of Clear yanking on her arm and shouting, "Run! Run! _Run!_"


	11. Chapter Nine: Whisper

CHAPTER NINE: Whisper

A.N.: Ok, to some of you this chapter may seem a little cheesy, but to me, the situation I've put Kimberly and Clear in is one that would terrify the hell out of me. So here's Chapter Nine, titled after the song "Whisper," by Evanescence (lyrics from the song are in italics – if the italics work properly this time). Yes, the ending will be a cliffhanger, but I promise you, it's not over yet.

P.S.: If you can figure out the significance of the last sentence, I'll post your name (and the answer) in the A.N. of the next chapter. You might want to message the answer to me though, otherwise everyone will get it. Incentive for reviews/comments, I hope?

……………………

D_on't turn away (don't give in to the pain)…_

Kimberly barely noticed Clear dragging her up the stairs until they burst outside and were met with a torrent of rain. The harshness of the cold water jarred her out of her stunned state completely, and the reality of the situation came crashing down on her. It wasn't long before her strides matched Clear's as they fled into the woods. Every breath Kim took screamed for life; each step pounding the ground spoke of death.

Clear had thought that, when finally faced with death, one of two things would happen to her: she would either turn and meet her fate with calm and grim resolve, or her life and a million other thoughts and images would flash before her eyes. But neither of these things happened. Instead, she could only think of one thing: keep Kimberly safe.

But either way, both girls were doomed. Even as they sprinted into the woods, they heard the mortician emerging from his basement, calling their names. What they had known since the beginning was now clearer than ever: they could only run from Death for so long.

……………………

…D_on't try to hide (though they're screaming your name)…_

"Should we split up?" Kimberly asked, her breath ragged with impending exhaustion. She took a moment to spit out the water that had begun to collect on her lips. The rain had yet to stop, and the girls were completely drenched. They had already dropped their backpacks so they wouldn't be weighed down and had released each other's hands so they could pump their arms at their sides in an attempt to keep up their strides. The mortician had yet to relent in his pursuit.

"No," Clear replied in response to Kim's suggestion. "If we're apart it's easier for Death to get us by itself. Together, all we have to worry about is _him_."

"How so? Almost all of the people we know died while we watched!" Kimberly took a moment to shudder at the thought.

"If we're together, we have a better chance of keeping each other safe than if we're apart," Clear insisted. "Together we can keep each other going." _And I don't want to be without you_, Clear added to herself.

Kimberly nodded, and the two girls continued to run. _You've always kept me going, Clear, _she thought, her thoughts mirroring her friend's. _I don't know what I'd do without you._

The girls took as many twists and zig-zags as they could in an attempt to their pursuer: they even doubled back towards the funeral home. And still the mortician chased them, his searching voice made even more chilling as it came through the rain.

"How much longer are we going to have to run?" Kim asked. She was swiftly running out of energy, and both of them were beginning to slip on the wet leaves and mossy logs.

"As long as we have to," Clear replied. Truth be told, she was almost out of energy as well, and it was Kimberly who was keeping her going instead of vise-versa. On impulse she grabbed Kim's hand again, needing to know she was there, needing to know she was _real_. Kimberly looked at her in shock for a moment, then held on tight.

……………………

…D_on't close your eyes (God knows what lies behind them)…_

"Clear, I can't keep going!" Kimberly panicked. She still clung to the older girl's hand and was subsequently being half-dragged.

"We can't stop!" Clear persisted, more than happy to drag her friend along. She would have carried the girl if she could, had there not been the need to throw her arms out for balance so as not to slip. The forest floor was becoming so drenched that it was turning into muck, and the sky was so dark that the girls could barely see.

They had been running for what felt like hours, but the mortician had yet to relent.

"Why does he want us this badly? Kimberly asked, throwing a glance over her shoulder. "Why – AH!" The simple action she had taken combined with exhaustion and rain had proved too much. She had slipped on a log hidden in the leaves and was sent careening down the small slope ahead of them.

"Kimberly!" the blonde cried, finding the strength to increase her pace. She went into a controlled slide down the slope and arrived at the bottom to find her friend curled up in the leaves, her face white with pain. As Clear knelt by the brunette's side, she saw that the girl's foot had gotten caught in a small pile of rocks. She gently freed Kimberly from the rocks, but Clear saw that her friend's ankle was badly twisted, and already it had begun to swell and was marked with deep bruises. She looked down at Kimberly, who looked back with an expression of resignation and terror on her face.

"We're not giving up," Clear said firmly. Calling on every ounce of strength she had, she wrapped her arms around the girl's waist and hauled her up. Kimberly put her arm around Clear's shoulder as she tried to balance on one foot. "Just lean on me," the blonde said with a hint of desperation. "Just hold on, Kimberly. Please, hold on."

Their pace was crawling as they continued their flight from the mortician. The whole time, Clear kept whispering words of comfort and encouragement. "We'll be out of the forest soon, Kimberly. Then we'll be at the road, and someone can take us to a hospital. Just a _slow _drive through the rain. You'll be all right, Kimberly. _We'll _be all right. We'll make it through. We'll make it."

But it wasn't enough. Fifteen minutes later, Kimberly gave out and dropped back into the leaves. She lay there breathing hard as the rain continued to pound, pouring down her face in rivulets. "Go on without me," she said after spitting out a mouthful of water. "Maybe he'll be happy with just one of us."

"I'm not leaving you," Clear said through clenched teeth. Clear Rivers, hardened by two years of grief and steady as a rock, was trying not to cry. She desperately looked around for a place to hide. There was none.

"Just go, Clear!" Kimberly said, almost angrily. "Please, go! _Live_!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Clear shouted, her voice breaking.

She knelt beside Kimberly and took the girl in her arms. "You know what? Ever since Alex died I've concentrated on living – just staying alive. But after the asylum fire? After I started this whole journey with you? It's been more than just living – it's been living _for _something – living for something that makes life what it is. And now, if I were to just go on living, but without you? That wouldn't be life at all. That would just be me, existing, alone, until finally Death claimed me. I would rather die with you here and now than live that kind of existence." And then, she finally did what she had been dreaming so long of doing: she brought her face down to meet Kimberly's and kissed her full on the mouth.

Kimberly didn't protest – far from it. Instead she wrapped her arms around Clear's neck and gently gripped the back of her head, running her hand through her soaked blonde hair and pulling her deeper into the kiss. Clear had one hand behind Kimberly's head and the other supporting her back, bringing their bodies closer together as they lost themselves in each other. Though the rain continued to fall and the chill began to seep into their very bones, the place where their lips met was scorching, and filled them up with a heat they didn't know was possible.

Both girls were crying when they finally broke apart. Kimberly looked straight into Clear's eyes and discovered that the words that she never thought she'd have the courage to say now came to her easily.

"I love you, Clear."

"I love you too, Kimberly."

……………………

…D_on't turn out the lights (never sleep, never die)._

When the mortician found them, the girls were ready. Ready to die.

"I see you've finally stopped running," he said, a hint of smug satisfaction in his voice.

Kimberly and Clear didn't reply: only stared defiantly into the morticians all-seeing eyes. It was only when he raised the gun to his shoulder that the two of them flinched.

"Say goodbye, Kimberly and Clear."

At this, the girls shut their eyes tightly, embracing and burying their heads in each other's shoulders.

"I love you," Kimberly whispered again.

"I love you too," Clear replied.

The crack of the two shots could be heard even through the pouring rain. But as pain exploded through Kimberly's body, she had one lucid thought before succumbing to blackness: she hadn't heard the wind.


	12. Chapter Ten: Shall I Begin?

CHAPTER TEN: "Upon my end, shall I begin?"

A.N.: The significance of the last line ("she hadn't heard the wind") was that throughout the movies, Death was always accompanied by a low, deep sound…and wind. So if Kimberly didn't hear it, that means Death was never there, hence the reason this chapter exists.

Congratulations to: ACK1988 for being the ONE PERSON to figure it out before this chapter got posted. Props to you. ;)

Anyway, here's Chapter Ten, with resolutions and no cliffhangers. This is not, however, the last chapter – I mean, come on, we need some Clear/Kimberly lovin' in here (next chapter, muahaha)! The title lyrics are – yet again – from the Evanescence song "Whisper."

P.S.: Yes, I'm borrowing some stuff from the end of the movie. Yes, this might get a tad sappy.

……………………

"Clear!"

Fire shot through her body, then there was darkness again.

"Clear!"

Again, the fire, but a semblance of consciousness remained. _Clear?_ Kimberly thought. _Clear? How is she? _Where _is she? Where are you?_

"Clear!"

Fire again. It seemed to be coming from two pieces of warm metal against her chest. _Clear…must wake up… _She opened her eyes as much as she could before letting them close again.

"Clear!"

This time the fire jarred her to her senses. She suddenly felt everything around her – the cold sheets, the IV in her arm, and, worst of all, the searing pain in her stomach. The agony was too much, and she let out a cry of pain.

"She's back!" she heard someone say. "We've got a pulse! It's weak, but she's got one!"

Kimberly finally found her voice, though tears still ran down her face from the pain. "Clear?"

"Hey, honey," said a female doctor standing above her. "We almost lost you there."

"Lost?" Kimberly managed weakly. She could feel the stretcher she was on being wheeled down a hall.

"Yeah, you flatlined for a fair amount of time," the doctor replied as she kept pace.

"_Flatlined"…"she's back"… _The significance of the words hit Kimberly like a freight train. "New life…" she breathed in astonishment.

"You could say that," the doctor said, looking a little puzzled and a little sympathetic at the same time. She probably thought that the pain from the gunshot and the shocks that brought her back to life were confusing her a bit. "Let's get her on some morphine," she said to an assisting doctor.

"Clear?" Kimberly asked. "Clear?"

……………………

"Clear!"

A jarring shock, then nothing.

"Clear!"

Another white-hot shock that sent her reeling briefly back into the world before she began to drift away again.

"Clear!"

Y_es?_ Clear thought. _What do you want? I'm tired. I just want to sleep…_

"Clear!"

This time she was brought not only back to the world, but to her senses as well. _Kimberly! _she screamed internally, then she screamed externally as her physical senses kicked in.

"We have a pulse!"

"I think the scream was clue enough," said a slightly sardonic yet very relieved voice. "As soon as she's stable, let's get her on some morphine."

Clear too felt herself being wheeled down what seemed like an endless hallway. "Hey there," said a male doctor walking next to her, his voice being the one that had ordered the morphine. "How are you feeling?"

"What…what happened?"

"You flatlined for a bit, but we brought you back." His words were overly calm, but she had heard how relieved he was before.

"_Flatlined"…"brought back"…_

"…new life," Clear finished.

"Funny – your friend said that too."

"Kimberly?" Clear demanded in a panic. "Kimberly?"

"She's just fine. In fact, we'll be taking you to the same room to make you feel more comfortable."

It was Clear's turn to be relieved. "Thank you," she said, close to tears. The pain was partially the cause of that as well.

……………………

Both girls were doped on morphine by the time Clear arrived at the room, but that didn't quell the overwhelming emotions that overtook them both when they saw each other.

"Clear…"

"Kimberly…"

"Won," Kimberly managed to get out, a huge smile on her face.

"Won," Clear confirmed, also beginning to smile.

Knowing that – at long, long last – they were finally safe, the two girls allowed themselves to drift into the first peaceful sleep they'd had in years.

……………………

For the next few days, the girls found themselves in and out of consciousness, mostly due to pain (or more the medicines that dulled it) and shock. Whenever they were both awake at the same time, however, all they did was look at each other, never breaking eye contact. When the weariness had abated somewhat, the two girls were told the doctors' version of what had happened: a man had heard gunshots, found them lying in the forest, and called 911. Kimberly was about to open her mouth to say what really happened, but she caught Clear's almost imperceptible shake of the head and kept her mouth shut.

"Why shouldn't we tell them what really happened?" she asked the blonde later when the two of them were alone.

"They'd never have believed us," Clear replied.

"We don't have to tell them about the Death part," Kimberly said in a slightly exasperated tone. "Just how he was the one that shot us."

"Kimberly, technically he saved our lives." At her friend's silence, she continued. "He told us that life that wasn't meant to be would break the chain: cause death to rewrite itself. By flatlining – technically being dead for however long – and being brought back here at the hospital, we were granted lives that weren't supposed to be. No one's supposed to come back from the dead, and that's technically what we did. Our hearts stopped beating, but we lived. Death had to rewrite itself. By shooting us where he did and calling 911 the way he did, the mortician saved our lives and broke the chains we were in. We're free of the hold Death had on us."

Kimberly remained silent for a moment or so. "I understand that, and I guess I can accept it," she finally said. "But I don't like it much."

Clear grimaced and ran a careful hand over the bandage on her stomach. "Yeah, me neither."

……………………

It was nearly a full month before Kimberly and Clear were recuperated enough to consider going home. The problem was, they had no home to go to. Or at least they thought, until a woman in a dark blue suit came to visit.

The two girls were sitting on Kimberly's bed playing cards when the woman was shown in by a nurse. Looking up to see that they had a visitor, the girls put the cards aside and turned to see who the woman was.

"Hello Kimberly, Clear," the woman said, sitting in a chair next to the bed. "My name is miss Haverford." She turned to Kimberly. "I'm here to discuss your father's will."

Kimberly swallowed hard, and Clear gently took her hand. "Wh-what about it?" Kim asked once she had put on a determined face.

"Well, he left everything he owned to you."

Kimberly's jaw dropped, but Clear's face lit up in a smile. "See?" she whispered to the brunette. "He still loved you." Kim allowed herself a small smile.

"All you need to do is sign a few papers and then you can have all the information you need: finances, loans, mortgage on the house – and the keys, of course," Ms. Haverford continued. "You've also collected a decent sum from your father's life insurance policy."

The next hour or so was a whirlwind for Kimberly. After discussions and the signing of what seemed like several million sheets of paper, she found herself in possession of a car, a house, and a fair amount of money.

"We can go home, Clear," she said once Ms. Haverford was gone. "We can go home."

……………………

Maria and Mrs. Peters came to visit the girls before they left the hospital, and the two of them were both relieved and a tad pissed off. They didn't ask for an explanation, however, which the girls were thankful for – they couldn't have given one if they tried.

"Can you stop running now?" Is all Maria asked.

"Yeah," said Kimberly. "Yeah, we can."

……………………

A week after the visit of the Peters' women, Kimberly and Clear found themselves standing on the doorstep of Kimberly's house. Kimberly held the keys tightly in her hand, which was shaking. Clear noticed, and took the brunette's other hand in hers: an action that had become a common form of shared comfort between the two. After taking a deep breath, Kim unlocked the door and the girls stepped inside.

Everything was pretty much the way it was when Kimberly had last seen it over a year ago, except that dust cloths covered the furniture. The clocks had long run out of batteries, so not even a soft tick-tock filled the house. The whole place was silent.

"I already know what I'm going to do," Kimberly said as she shut and locked the door. "I'm going to sell the furniture and the house. I'm going to find another, smaller place somewhere peaceful where the two of us can live together." She turned to Clear. "I really do want to start a new life."

The blonde nodded and smiled. "I understand. I do too."

After a cursory tour of the ground floor, the girls went up to Kimberly's bedroom on the second floor. While Clear shut the door behind her, Kimberly yanked the dustcover off her bed and collapsed onto the mattress with a sigh. Without hesitation, Clear crawled into bed behind her and spooned her, wrapping her arm around the brunette's waist while being careful to avoid the still-tender bullet wound.

"The hardest is behind us," Clear whispered in Kimberly's ear.

"It seems like the hardest is ahead of us," she countered, sounding sorrowful.

"No. We can make it through. If we can beat Death, we can do anything. You and me, Kimberly. Just you and me."

Kimberly turned in Clear's arms. She didn't really didn't have anything to say to Clear's statement, so she just kissed her instead.


	13. Chapter Eleven: To The Sky

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

CHAPTER ELEVEN: "From the road to the sea to the sky"

A.N.: And now, ladies and gentlemen, the chapter you've all been waiting for: M-Rated Clear/Kimberly goodness!! Sorry if the girls are a tad OOC – I mean, come on, look at all that's just happened to them, I think I can take a _little _liberty, even though I don't own them (phooey). The title is from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song "Snow (Hey Oh)."

FD2 was on the SciFi channel the other night. It kinda defeats the purpose when all the gory deaths have to be cut out and the funny lines bleeped.

Also, I made a book cover for the fic. I'll post the link on my profile page.

Sorry so short, but I'm thinking of having one more chapter/epilogue after this, but if you have requests, I'll consider them. And reviews are appreciated. Seriously.

……………………

The kiss, as many kisses usually do, soon became increasingly passionate. Kimberly wove her fingers through Clear's hair, desperate to have the girl closer to her as their mouths moved against each other's. Clear, understanding Kimberly's need, gently cupped the back of the girls head and wrapped one leg around both of hers. With her other hand she stroked the brunette's back, rubbing in slow circles. The blonde ran her tongue over the girl's bottom lip, requesting entrance, and Kimberly happily complied.

The brunette moaned and went limp in Clear's arms as she felt her friend's – her _lover's_ – tongue gently massage her own. She clutched her fellow survivor tighter, meeting Clear's tongue in a most pleasurable duel. It was Clear's turn to sigh in delight at Kimberly's actions.

After a minute or so, the duel had stopped, and the girls settled for an endless series of kisses. They'd meet, then barely pull away for barely a moment, then kiss again. As they did this, they began to explore, running hands under shirts to caress soft skin.

It was Clear who took control first, rolling on top and pulling away from a kiss long enough to bring Kimberly's shirt over her head. Instead of moving back to meet the brunette's lips again, Clear planted soft kisses down her jaw line and slowly down her neck, suckling at the place where it met her shoulder, all the while stroking her back and sides tenderly. Kimberly couldn't help but moan again, and ran her hands desperately up Clear's back, working her shirt up her body in an attempt to pull it off. Smiling, Clear assisted with the process, tossing the offending garment aside. Much to her surprise, the brunette didn't stop there, but instead unclasped the girl's bra and let it slide down her arms. When that joined the t-shirt somewhere on the floor, Kimberly gently lowered one of Clear's breasts to her mouth.

The blonde threw her head back and gasped in pleasure as Kimberly – her shy, sweet Kimberly – suckled at her nipple, swirling her tongue around the hard bud, lightly scraping it with her teeth. The brunette was enjoying it almost as much as Clear was – the taste of the other girl's skin beneath her lips was divine, and she couldn't get enough. After a minute or so, she pulled her lips away and turned to kiss the other breast, teasing the first with her fingertips. Clear's whimpered in pleasure, and the sound urged Kimberly on.

Unable to stand it anymore, Clear repositioned herself so she could bring her lips back to Kim's while divesting her of her bra. Once it had been added to the rapidly growing pile, Clear returned her fellow survivor's favor, licking and sucking at her breasts while cupping and massaging them with her hands. Kim writhed beneath Clear as she nibbled at her skin, reveling in the sensations the blonde brought to life within her.

Deciding that she wanted this to be about Kimberly, Clear gently unzipped the girl's jeans and drew them down her legs, pulling her socks of with them. She then proceeded to place butterfly kisses up the girl's thigh, causing the brunette to shiver in delight. When the blonde reached the cotton of Kim's panties, she tenderly kissed her way up to her stomach as she slipped a hand between her legs.

Kimberly cried out when Clear's hand met her center. She had waited for this, _dreamed _of this, and now that it was happening, she wished it would last forever. Encouraged by the girl's cry, Clear began to move her hand in slow circles, estimating where the brunette's clit was and being sure to rub against it. Kimberly moved away for a moment, but it was only to pull down the covers of the bed so the two of them could climb between the sheets. As they did so, Kim took the opportunity to remove Clear's pants and socks as well, so that when they crawled beneath the covers, they were nearly completely naked. They lay in each other's arms for a moment, taking in the feel of each other's skin as they pressed tightly together. Then, with a brief kiss of agreement, they both kicked off their underwear and reached for each other.

Clear moaned loudly as Kimberly's fingers made contact with her slit. Every nerve in her body seemed hypersensitive, and everywhere she and the brunette touched burned with sweet fire, especially between her legs. Clear moved to touch Kimberly, and couldn't help but smile as the girl whimpered at the contact. The blonde searched for a moment before finding the girl's clit and applying pressure. Kimberly let out an even louder cry and clutched at her fellow survivor with her free arm. The two girls had their faces buried in each other's necks, breathing heavily, nearly consumed by sensation.

Kimberly found Clear's hidden bud and flicked her thumb against it, causing the blonde to moan and cling to her tighter. Unable to wait any longer, she let her fingers slide through heat and wetness before locating the girl's opening. After tracing it once, she guided two fingers deep within her, crying out as she felt Clear do the same.

Overwhelmed at the feeling of being inside one another, the girls began to rock against each other, stimulating each other's clits with their thumbs as they moved their fingers with a steady rhythm. Clear curled the tips of her fingers against Kimberly's inner walls and was rewarded with a startled but ecstatic cry as she brushed the girl's g-spot. When Kimberly did the same to her a moment later, the blonde couldn't help but mimic her lover's reaction, totally unprepared for the surge of ecstasy.

The two began to move faster as they reached their peaks, both lost in the pleasure swallowing them both. It didn't take them long to reach breaking point, and Kimberly barely had time to gasp before she was thrown over the edge. As every nerve in her body erupted in pleasure, Kim felt like she was flying, carried to the clouds by the ecstasy coursing through her body. She called Clear's name and held onto her lover tightly, riding out her climax to the fullest.

Clear, too, had been hurled into ecstasy, convulsing around Kimberly's fingers as she called the girl's name at the top of her lungs. She felt lighter than air, filled with nothing but waves and waves of pleasure that crashed within her again and again. She returned the brunette's tight embrace, prolonging the sensations coursing through her.

When the two finally returned to reality after the most powerful climaxes of their lives, the girls couldn't help but simply collapse in each other's arms. Once Clear felt that she could breath again, she slid her hand from Kimberly and licked her fingers clean. The taste was intoxicating, and Clear's first thought was that she couldn't wait to lower her mouth to its source. Looking at Kimberly, who was licking her fingers as well, she could tell the same thought was on her mind.

Once they were done, the girls embraced tightly, tasting each other as they shared a deep kiss.

"I love you, Clear," Kimberly said, looking directly into her lover's blue-gray eyes.

"I love you too, Kimberly," Clear replied, meeting her gaze. "More than I could ever say."

"You'll just have to show me then," Kim murmured, smiling wryly.

"I think that can be arranged."

Laughing softly, the two snuggled under the covers and kissed each other to sleep.


End file.
